JPH0124319B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a display device capable of displaying scanning image information.

A character display device will be described as an example of a conventional display device of this type.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a character display device, in which 1 is a controller, 2 is a code memory, 3 is a character generator, and 4 is a cathode ray tube display monitor (hereinafter referred to as
(abbreviated as CRT monitor).

The controller 1 is connected to a computer or keyboard (not shown), and display data codes input from the computer or keyboard are input to the controller 1 and stored in the code memory 2 corresponding to the display position specified by the controller 1.
is written to a predetermined address. code memory 2
is a memory that has memory addresses corresponding to display screen positions, and stores display data there in the form of codes.

The code of the display data stored in the code memory 2 is read out sequentially according to the display timing and given to the character generator 3, which generates a character pattern corresponding to the display data according to the display timing, and A character pattern is displayed on the monitor 4.

The character generator 3 stores character patterns of display data at addresses corresponding to display data codes, and therefore stores character patterns corresponding to the number of display character types. In general, character display devices that display alphanumeric characters, katakana, etc. (usually referred to as character display devices) have 64 to 128 character types, and one character pattern has 7
It is stored in the form of a dot matrix of dots x 9 dots.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing another conventional character display device, in which 1 and 4 are the same as in FIG. 1, 5 is a font memory holding character pattern information, and 6 is a block diagram showing another conventional character display device.
7 is an image memory that holds the pattern displayed on the CRT monitor 4, and 7 is a code table, which has memory addresses corresponding to display screen positions and stores display data therein in the form of codes. be.

The controller 1 is connected to a computer or a keyboard (not shown), and display data codes input from the computer or keyboard are input to the controller 1 and displayed on the code table 7 corresponding to the display position specified by the controller 1. Written to a predetermined address.

Further, at the same time as writing the display data code into the code table 7, the controller 1 reads out a character pattern corresponding to the display data code from the font memory 5, and writes it into a memory address corresponding to the designated display position on the image memory 6. Therefore, character patterns of display data are stored in the image memory 6 at addresses corresponding to display positions, and are sequentially read out according to the raster scan of the CRT monitor 4, and the character patterns are displayed on the CRT monitor 4. be done.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the image memory 6 in FIG. 2, where 60 is a column counter 1 (abbreviated as 1st CC), 61 is a raster counter 1 (abbreviated as 1st RC),
62 is line counter 1 (abbreviated as 1st LC), 63 is selector 1 (abbreviated as 1st SEL), 64 is selector 2
(abbreviated as 2nd SEL), 65 is a selector 3 (abbreviated as 3rd SEL), 66 is a memory (abbreviated as MEM), and 67 is a latch 1 (1st L ),
68 is a shift register (abbreviated as P/SR) that performs parallel/serial conversion, and 69 is a raster counter 2.
(abbreviated as 2nd RC), 70 is column counter 2 (abbreviated as 2nd RC).
2CC), 71 is the line counter 2 (abbreviated as 2nd LC), and 72 is the controller 1 to MEM6.
In contrast to latch 6, there is a latch 2 (abbreviated as 2nd L) that holds data when performing a read/write operation.

Next, the structure and operation of each part shown in FIG. 3 will be explained. The first CC 60 determines the horizontal scanning time of one pixel, which is generated from a clock synchronized with the raster scanning of the CRT monitor 4 from a timing control section (not shown) (one clock gives the display time of one dot). In the case of 7 dots (horizontal) x 9 dots (vertical), the count is increased every 7 dots scanning time, and after it is incremented to the number of display columns in the horizontal direction (this is the j column), the first RC6 is counted up.
This is a j-ary counter that outputs a signal that counts up by one and is reset to zero again. The first RC61 is a counter that counts the number of rasters constituting one pixel (9 rasters in this example).
Counting from 0 to 8 rasters, the 1st LC62
It outputs a signal that counts up by one, and is reset to 0 again. The first LC 62 is a line counter whose 1 line is the number of rasters constituting one pixel (9 rasters in this example), and if the number of display lines per screen is k lines, from 0 to (k-1).
It is a k-ary counter that counts lines.

The controller 1 performs mode switching control between the display mode and the read/write mode for the image memory 6, and in the display mode, the
For 1SEL63, 2nd SEL64, and 3rd SEL65,
It instructs to select the output signals of the first LC 62, first RC 61, and first CC 60, respectively, and the selected signals are given to the MEM 66 as a memory address signal. In this way, MEM66
The image information sequentially read out in synchronization with raster scanning is set in the first L67, and further, the P/SR
68, where the image information read out in horizontal dot units of one pixel is converted from parallel to serial and sent out as video information.
displayed on the CRT monitor 4.

On the other hand, the controller 1 stores the character pattern given by the dot matrix information in the image memory 6.
The operation of writing to, that is, the operation of read/write mode is performed as follows.

Dot matrix information representing a character pattern is sent from a computer (not shown) or font memory 5 to the controller 1, and the controller 1 instructs the image memory 6 to read/write mode to begin writing the character pattern.
When commanding read/write mode,
The 1st SEL 63, the 2nd SEL 64, and the 3rd SEL 65 select the 2nd LC 71, the 2nd RC 69, and the 2nd CC 70, respectively, and output them to the MEM 66 as memory addresses.

When the controller 1 writes a character pattern input to a pre-specified display position, for example, v ₁ column, w ₁ line, it writes (v ₁ -1) to the second CC 70 and (w ₁ -1) to the second LC 71. ), and set the dot information (7 dots) in the first row in the horizontal direction of the dot matrix information (7 dots (horizontal) x 9 dots (vertical)) representing the character pattern to the 2nd L.
72 and outputs a write instruction signal (not shown) to the MEM 66. At the same time as the writing is completed, the second RC 69 is counted up by one. The controller 1 further sets the dot information in the second row in the horizontal direction of the dot matrix information.
2L72 and outputs a write instruction signal to MEM66. By repeating this nine times, one character pattern can be written on the image memory 6 at the designated display position. 9
When the first write is completed, the second RC69
At the same time as outputting a signal to count up the 2CC70 by one, the second RC69 itself returns to 0 again. When reading dot matrix information at a specified position on the image memory 6 from the controller 1, the image memory 6 is set to read/write mode, and the read position is set to the second LC 71 and the second CC.
70 and readout instruction signal (not shown)
By outputting to the MEM66, the information in the first horizontal line of the dot matrix information becomes the
2L 72 and is obtained by the controller 1 taking in this. At the same time, 2nd RC6
9 is counted up by one, and by continuing to output the read instruction signal to the MEM66, the information on the second horizontal line of the dot matrix information is obtained, and by repeating this nine times, one Dot matrix information corresponding to character patterns can be obtained. As mentioned above,
The display screen is divided into j columns x k rows of display positions, and each display position is composed of a dot matrix of, for example, 7 dots (horizontal) x 9 dots (vertical) (one pixel corresponds to one character pattern). ), this dot matrix information will hereinafter be referred to as dot matrix type image information.

In conventional display devices such as those described above, images (characters, figures, photographs, etc.) expressed on a surface are read and scanned, for example, by unidirectional line sequential scanning, as in facsimile devices, and are converted into continuous black and white binary information. When displaying the displayed information (hereinafter referred to as scanning image information), first convert the scanning image information into dot matrix image information (for example, 7 dots
This has the disadvantage of increasing the price of the device because it must be converted into a 9-dot black and white pattern) and converted into information with a corresponding display data code added for each pixel. Furthermore, it has been impossible to selectively display a portion of an image or to exchange information with other devices.

The present invention was made to eliminate these drawbacks, and makes it possible to display partially selected images and to input and output them. below,
The invention will be explained in detail with reference to the drawings.

First, a display device to which the present invention is applied will be explained.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a display device to which the present invention is applied, in which numerals 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 are the same as in FIGS. 1 and 2, and 8 indicates character codes and editing commands. Keyboard for input, 9 is the drawing,
An image input device that generates scanned image information by scanning a photo; 10 is an image information compressor/decompressor that compresses or restores image information; 11 exchanges scanned image information and character codes with a computer (not shown); This is the interface section. keyboard 8
Alternatively, the character code input from the computer is input to the controller 1 and written to a predetermined address in the code memory 2 corresponding to the display position specified by the controller 1. The code memory 2 is a memory that has memory addresses corresponding to display screen positions, and stores display data therein in the form of character codes.

The character codes stored in the code memory 2 are sequentially read out in accordance with the display timing and given to the character generator 3, which generates a character pattern corresponding to the character code in accordance with the display timing,
Displayed on the CRT monitor 4 in a character pattern.

The image input device 9 scans a drawing or a photograph to generate scanning image information corresponding to the drawing or photograph. Scanning image information input from the image input device 9 or the computer is compressed to improve transmission efficiency within the device and between the device and the computer, and the image information input to the controller 1 is compressed to the image information compressor/decompressor 10. The image information is restored to the original image information at , and then sequentially written into the image memory 6 by the controller 1 . This image memory 6 corresponds to the display screen, and the capacity of the image memory 6 is equal to the display screen configuration (vertical m dots, horizontal n dots), and is a memory that holds image information to be displayed on the CRT monitor 4. .

The image information stored in the image memory 6 is read out sequentially according to the display timing, and
An image of a drawing or photograph is displayed on the monitor 4. By inputting composite video information into the CRT monitor 4, which is a combination of character video information generated from character codes stored in the code memory 2 and image video information generated from the image memory 6,
A mixture of text, graphics, and photos is displayed.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of the image memory 6 used in the display device shown in FIG.
(abbreviated as 3rd RC), 23 is line counter 3 (3rd RC).
3LC), and 24 to 26 are selectors, abbreviated as 4th SEL, 5th SEL, and 6th SEL, respectively. A selection signal 27 instructs the fourth SEL 24, fifth SEL 25, and sixth SEL 26 to select input signals. Note that the same reference numerals as in FIG. 3 indicate the same parts.

When scanning image information is input to the controller 1 from a computer or an image input device (not shown), the controller 1 directs the image memory 6 to read/write mode, thereby
The 1st SEL 63, the 2nd SEL 64, and the 3rd SLE 65 select signals from the 4th SEL 24, 5th SEL 25, and 6th SEL 26, respectively, and output them to the MEM 66 as memory address signals.

Further, the controller 1 outputs a selection signal 27 indicating a scanning image information read/write mode in order to read/write scanning image information.
The 6th SEL26 is the 3rd LC23 and the 3rd RC2, respectively.
2. Select the signal from the 3rd CC21 and select the 1st SEL6
3. Output to the second SEL 64 and third SEL 65.

Next, in order to set the write position of the image memory 6 to the beginning, the controller 1 sets the third CC 21,
Reset the third RC22 and third LC23.

Next, in order to write the input scanning image information into the image memory 6, the controller 1 divides it into writing units, for example, 7 dots, and sets the first 7 dots in the second LC 72.

Next, the controller 1 issues a write instruction signal (not shown) to the MEM 66, and the second L72
The contents of are written to the image memory 6, and when the writing is completed, the third CC 21 is counted up by one.

Furthermore, the controller 1 cuts out the 7 dots to be written next to the scanning image information, and again writes the 2nd L.
72 and outputs a write instruction signal.
Therefore, when writing is completed, the third CC 21 is counted up again. In this way, when sequential scanning image information is written j times (equivalent to one raster), the 3rd CC21 outputs a signal that counts up the 3rd RC22 by one, and the 3rd CC21 outputs a signal that counts up the 3rd RC22 by one.
1 itself returns to 0 again.

The 3rd RC22 is counted up one by one by the count up signal from the 3rd CC21, and when it reaches 8, it returns to 0 again, and at the same time
Outputs a count up signal to 3LC23. When the third LC 23 advances to (k-1), it returns to 0 again. In this way, (j×9×k)
When the double-scanning image information is written, writing for one screen is completed.

When reading scanning image information from the image memory 6, a read instruction signal (not shown) is used instead of a write instruction signal, and the readout signal is sent to the second L.
The write operation can be performed in the same manner as the write operation except that the data held in 72 is sequentially fetched into the controller 1.

In order to display the scanning image information held on the image memory 6 on the CRT monitor 4,
The controller 1 may set the image memory 6 to display mode.

Furthermore, a calculator (not shown) is installed in the controller 1.
Alternatively, when dot matrix type image information is input from the font memory 5, the controller 1 turns off the selection signal 27 indicating the scanning type image information read/write mode, and thereby the fourth SEL2
4. 5th SEL25 and 6th SEL26 are respectively
Select the signals from 2LC71, 2nd RC69, and 2nd CC70, and select the signals from 1st SEL63, 2nd SEL64, and 3rd SEL.
65.

Next, the operation of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

The present invention is applied to a display device capable of displaying both dot matrix type image information and scanning type image information as described above, and in actuality, the configuration shown in FIG. , is formed by adding the components newly shown in FIG. 6, but in order to clarify the structure, only the main parts are shown in FIG. In FIG. 6, 31 is the left end column address register (abbreviated as LCAR), 32 is the upper end raster address register (abbreviated as URAR), 33 is the upper end line address register (abbreviated as ULAR), and 34 is the right end Column address register (abbreviated as RCAR), 35
is the lower edge raster address register (abbreviated as LRAR), 36 is the lower edge line address register (abbreviated as LLAR), 37 is the first comparator, and 38 is the second comparator.
Comparator, 39 is an AND gate, 40 is a third comparator,
41 is the fourth comparator, 42 is an AND gate, 43 is a
AND gate, 44 is a gate, 45 is a data bus,
46 is an output data line from the second L72, 47
is an output data line from the gate 44, 48 is an output signal from the AND gate 43, and 49 is a partial selection image mode instruction signal.

Further, in FIG. 7, 28 is a display screen of the CRT monitor 4, 29 is a raster, and 30 is a cursor marker that indicates the input position to the operator.

When selecting the image area labeled "CRT" displayed in the center of the display screen 28 in FIG.
The operator uses the keyboard 8 to select the cursor marker 3 that indicates the input position displayed on the display screen 28.
0 to the upper left end point A of the image area to be selected.
(a, b), press the image area upper left end designation key (not shown) on the keyboard 8, and then move the cursor marker 30 to the lower right end point B (c, d) of the image area to be selected. and press an image area lower right end designation key (not shown) on the keyboard 8 to select a rectangular area with a straight line as its diagonal.

In selecting and specifying a partial area of an image, in addition to specifying an end point using the cursor marker 30, it is also possible to specify an end point using a light pen (not shown) in a similar manner.

Next, using FIG. 6, display screen 2 in FIG.
The operation of importing information of the image area selected on 8 (hereinafter referred to as a partially selected image area) into the controller 1 will be described.

The controller 1 receives an end point A (a,
b), B(c, d), and the left end column address a is sent to LCAR 31, the top raster/line address b is sent to URAR 32 and ULAR 33, and the right end column address is sent to LCAR 31 via data bus 45. Address c to RCAR34 and bottom raster/line address d to LRAR35 and
Set to LLAR36.

Next, the controller 1 instructs the image memory 6 to read/write mode, further outputs a selection signal 27 indicating the scanning image information read/write mode, and outputs a partial selection image mode instruction signal 4.
Outputs 9.

Next, the controller 1 controls the third CC21 and the third RC2.
2. When the third LC 23 is reset and a read instruction signal is output, the unit image information at the top of the screen (for example, image information of 7 dots in this example) is transferred from the MEM 66 to the 2L 72 shown in FIG. 5 (in FIG. 6). (omitted) and is output to the output data line 46 of the second L72.

The first comparator 37 compares the values of the third RC22 and the third LC23 with the values of the URAR32 and ULAR33, that is, "b", and outputs an output signal when the values of the third RC22 and the third LC23 are greater or equal; The second comparator 38 receives the values of the third RC22 and the third LC23,
When the values of 3rd RC22 and 3rd LC23 are smaller than the values of LRAR35 and LLAR36, that is, "d", an output signal is output, and therefore, AND gate 39
The output of
It shows the composite number created by connecting the least significant digit of the value of 3LC23. For example, the value of 3rd RC22 =
1011, if the value of 3rd LC23 = 1001, 3rd LC〇th
3RC=10011011) is output while the following conditions are satisfied.

Third comparator 40, fourth comparator 41 and AND
The gate 42 includes a first comparator 37 and a second comparator 38.
AND gate 39, and the output of AND gate 42 is output while the condition a≦3rd CC<c is satisfied.
The output signal 48 of the gate 43 is output while the following conditions are simultaneously satisfied: b≦3rd LC〇3rd RC<da≦3rd CC<c, and the gate 44 outputs the output data only while the output signal 48 is being output. Output the read data on line 46 to data line 4
7 and transfer it to controller 1.

As you can see from the above explanation, controller 1
outputs a partial selection image mode instruction signal 49,
When image information is sequentially read out from the image memory 6, the image information read out to the output data line 46 is transferred to the output data line 46 by the gate 44 except for the partial selected image area b≦3rd LC〇3rd RC<d a≦3rd CC<c. Output data line 47
Only the image information of the partially selected image area is taken into the controller 1.

In this way, a partial area of the image displayed on the display screen 28 can be selected, and the controller 1 can transfer the partial selected image information to the computer via the interface unit 11. Furthermore, it is possible to transfer the image information to a facsimile device (not shown) via the image information compressor/decompressor 10 and the interface section 11.

In addition, the above is when selecting a partial selection image area,
Although the case of specifying the upper left end point and the lower right end point has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and a partial selection image area may be specified using the upper right end point and the lower left end point.

As described above in detail, the display device according to the present invention includes a means for sequentially writing or reading image information in units of one pixel consisting of a plurality of vertical and horizontal dots, and a means for sequentially writing or reading image information in units of pixels, which is composed of a plurality of vertical and horizontal dots, and a means for sequentially scanning image information in one direction. A means for writing or reading image information, a means for selecting an operation mode, and a means for holding position information for specifying a partial selection area of an image displayed on a display screen when the partial selection area is specified. a means for detecting whether or not an operation of writing or reading image information belonging to a partial selection area is being executed when writing or reading image information from the controller to the image memory; means for controlling whether or not to output the image information read out from the image memory to the controller; and means for outputting a partial selection image mode signal instructing to read only the partial selection image from the image memory as valid image information. In addition, when the partial selection image mode is instructed, it is possible to read out only the image information belonging to the partial selection area from the image memory as valid image information, so that only the scanning image information input from the image input device can be displayed. Without,
The advantage is that partial selection of the displayed scanning image information and information exchange of the partially selected image information of the scanning image information with a computer or facsimile device are facilitated, and high functionality can be achieved without increasing the cost of the device. There is.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional character display device, FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of another conventional character display device, and FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of the image memory shown in FIG.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a display device to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of an image memory of the display device shown in FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 explains an embodiment of the display device of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen. In the figure, 1 is a controller, 2 is a code memory,
3 is a character generator, 4 is a CRT monitor, 6 is an image memory, 8 is a keyboard, 9 is an image input device,
10 is an image information compressor/decompressor, and 11 is an interface section. Note that the same reference numerals in the figures indicate the same or corresponding parts.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 Controlling the entire device in a display device that sequentially reads image information in synchronization with raster scanning from an image memory in which image information is stored at an address corresponding to a display position and displays the image information as characters and figures on a display screen. a controller for sequentially writing or reading the image information in the image memory in pixel units consisting of a plurality of vertical and horizontal dots; means for writing or reading data, means for selecting an operation mode, and means for holding position information for specifying a partial selection area of an image displayed on a display screen when the partial selection area is specified. , when writing or reading image information from the controller to the image memory, the means for writing or reading the image information determines whether or not the writing or reading operation of the image information belonging to the partial selection area is being executed at the position. means for detecting using information; means for controlling whether or not the image information read from the image memory is output to the controller according to the output of the detecting means; means for outputting a partial selection image mode signal instructing to read out as valid image information from the image memory, and when the partial selection image mode is instructed, image information in which only image information belonging to the partial selection area is valid from the image memory. A display device characterized in that it is possible to read out data as follows.